2 pages.

Make this easy pumpkin centerpiece out of a piece of dryer hose. The completed project is truly amazing and a great conversation piece!

1-2-3 Come Do Nine Fine Pumpkin On The Vine Math Activities With Me

I have so many fun pumpkin activities to share, that I thought I'd feature 9 of my favorites that I use to teach all sorts of math standards.

A quick, easy and fun way to review numbers from 1-30, counting backwards from 20 or 10 to 0; plus skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's is with the pumpkin slider. There are 3 different pumpkin patterns for children to choose from. 

So that you can also review upper & lowercase letters, I included those traceable strips as well.  Sliders are a great way to whole group assess as you play an "I Spy!" game.

If you're working on telling time with your kiddos, the Pumpkin Time cards are perfect for a pocket chart or use as flashcards.

They review analog and digital time to the hour as well as time to the half hour.   Make extra sets for students to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. I've included a tip list of other things you can do with the cards, plus a Kaboom game.

For more telling time reinforcement, your kiddos will enjoy the  "It's Pumpkin Time!" games.  There are dice as well as spinner games. 

Both reinforce digital as well as analog time.  I've included blank templates to use as an assessment tool, or for students to make mini time booklets.

Have you started working on money?  Then I think you'll enjoy Pumpkin Payment. 

Several standards are covered in this easy-reader pumpkin coin booklet that reinforce coins and shapes. 

Students trace and write the coin word, the value of the coin, plus the shape word.  They trace the shape and then draw it on the pumpkin; cutting and gluing the coin(s) to the matching numbered boxes.

Are you looking for some measurement activities? Help students practice measurement, by using apples and pumpkins.

You can run this packet off as an entire booklet for each child to work on, or use one worksheet each day during your math or science time. 

I have pages where students measure with blocks, and other worksheets where students measure with a real scale and a yardstick.  Click on the link for Pumpkin & Apple Measurement Activities

More measurement activities can be found in the Pumpkin Investigation Booklet. 

Students measure height, weight, width and circumference of a pumpkin. They trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect and analyze data.

I think most teachers cover the life cycle of a pumpkin to add a bit of science into their day. 

With that in mind, I designed From Seeds To Pumpkin Pie: a quick, easy and awesome looking life cycle of a pumpkin craftivity.  Ever mindful of standards, I included some shape & fraction fun to go with it. 

The front of the pumpkin reviews all of the 2D basic shapes, including the hexagon, as students design their Jack-O-Lantern. (K.G.2)

The back of the pumpkin converts into a pie and is divided into quarters that show the pumpkin's life cycle. To make it look like a "real" pie tin, I covered a paper plate with aluminum foil. 

Two fraction worksheets are included, to work on dividing circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares. Students describe the sections using the words halves, fourths & quarters. (1.G.3) Completed projects look terrific suspended from the ceiling.

Finally, the Seed Sorting packet, helps you to continue with a bit more science, while covering all sorts of math standards:  Data collection & analysis, sorting, comparing & contrasting, predicting, guess-timating, counting, sequencing, greater than, less than & equal to, plus graphing. 

You can do these activities as a whole group, or set things up as a center and have students work independently on their own seed worksheets.

The easy reader My Seed Booklet, is a matching activity. You can simply make a booklet to share with your students, so that they can see the different kinds of popular fall seeds, or have each child make their own booklet by drawing the seeds. 

Since you can buy packages of popcorn, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, you may want your students to glue some real ones to their booklet as well.  You can always use the leftovers for all sorts of counting and sorting activities.

If you're looking for a few more math-related pumpkin activities, scroll down to another blog article filled with even more fall FREEBIES.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found a few things to get your kiddos excited about math, while learning a bit of science too. 

I'm off to the farmer's market to buy a few small pumpkins and gourds; I love decorating for fall.   Wishing you a colorful autumn day filled with ed-venture!

"Those who live in the past limit their future."  -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Sing A Fire Safety Song With Me

Almost 15 years ago, my 1st graders enjoyed singing my version of The Wheels On The Bus Go 'Round and 'Round,  as I'd add all sorts of extra goofy things to the traditional favorite. 

When October rolled around, and we were studying fire safety, I thought it would be fun to substitute a fire truck for the bus.  My kiddos loved it. 

Well it's years later and I decided to build a Common Core packet around this silly little song.  While doing research, I even found a few people who had the same idea. ("Great minds think alike and all that..." )

Any woo, what started out to be just a few things, morphed into a whopping 69-page packet, and believe me, my brain is a bit fried. 

I had a few requests for some fire safety themed alphabet and number cards, so I threw them into the mix, and one thing led to another...

Take a peek, pick the items that suit your fancy, and let the fun begin. 

The Packet Includes:

• The song that started it all: Wheels On The Truck Go 'Round And 'Round
• Poster of the song.
• 9 pocket chart cards to go with the song
• Labeled fire truck poster
• Fine motor Popsicle stick fire truck activity
• Writing prompt graphic organizer page:  "If a fire truck could talk it might say . . ."

• A wheels on the fire truck upper and lowercase matching game, with answer key. 

Students place the uppercase letter circle on the first wheel and then match the lowercase letter circle to the back wheel.

• Upper and lowercase letter cards, with a 4-page tip list of what to do with them.
• A Kaboom game to make playing a variety of the other games like Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" even more fun.
• Number cards from 0-120, with a 2-page tip list of what to do with them. (I tried to keep the ABC and number cards small, to conserve ink and paper.)

• 11 number cards with numbers and their matching number words. (0-10).
• Ordinal number cards (1-10).
• Odd and Even Sorting Mat +
• 20 worksheets, which include the following:

1. Can-Are-Have
2. Label the truck
3. KWL
4. Match the pictures to the words
5. Unscramble the words.
6. Graphing shapes.
7. Trace and write the words in alphabetical order.
8. Re telling a story: Beginning-Middle-End
9. Describing fire trucks (Adjective activity).
10. How Many Words Can You Make? (Use the letters in fire truck.) I've included my list of 56 that I came up with. Great for vocabulary building.
11. Two cutting skill sheets.  One difficult with zig zag lines, the other simple with straight lines.
12. Two dot-to-dot worksheets.  One with all the letters of the alphabet, the other with numbers 1-30.
13. Two trace the numbers to to the fire. (Skip counting by 5's, the other #s 1-20).
14. Two trace the letters to the hydrant. (Uppercase and lowercase).
15. Match the number to the number word and finally,
16. Fire Trucks On A Roll a dice game to practice numbers, counting and addition. Whew!

 Click on the link to view/download the Common Core Wheels On The Truck Packet.

While looking for fire truck ideas, I came across a super-simple fire truck Make a Vehicle game over at Enchanted Learning. 

I always liked to give my Y5's some computer time, and this would make a quick, easy and fun independent activity to practice keyboarding skills etc.

I also found an excellent video on YouTube featuring real fire trucks.  It's only 2:44 minutes long.  My grandson was revited, but then he's only 2 and everything is pretty exciting.

If you're teaching numbers 1-10, Monster Fire Trucks is also a rather short video (4:18) that's kind of cute.  Certainly attention grabbing.

Well that's it for today. (Where has it gone?) I hope your kiddos enjoy learning, as their own wheels start turning.  I'm off for a romp outside to unclutter my mind.  Wishing you a fabulous fall!

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places." -Author Unknown

69 pages.

Cover all sorts of Common Core Standards with this fire truck-themed fire safety packet. 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fire Safety Writing Prompt Craftivities With Me

I'm having a great time dreaming up quick and easy fire safety activities for October's Fire Prevention Month. I hope you find something here that you and your kiddos will enjoy.

One of my personal favorites is "Hot Tips For Fire Safety."  I designed a matchbook to feature the hot tips. Simply trim and fold a sheet of construction paper to make the matchbook. (Pattern included.)

On the outside of the matchbook it says: A perfect match: Smart kids and fire safety. 

Flip it open to find a list of hot tips at the top, and the matches on the bottom, with a warning to never play with matches.  

When everyone is done, review and discuss the tips. 

For writing practice, have older students make up a list of their own tips, or have them write additional advice on the back.  

Click on the link for the Hot Tips Fire Safety Matchbook craft.

My Y5's loved to make and wear hats and crowns, so I designed an easy fire helmet for your kiddos. Older students can write several fire safety facts on the front, back or rim. 

You could also make extra badges for children to wear.   They say: "I'm fire safety smart.  I'm alert, so I won't get hurt. "

For extra reinforcement, have students don their hat, pick a partner and give each other fire safety advice.

For more fire safety fun, make a flaming dangler.  This craftivity also reinforces the importance of not playing with fire.  I used the universal "no" sign to make the top portion, with a 3D flame dangling from the bottom. 

These look wonderful suspended from your ceiling, as they spin in the breeze. Older students can simply make the larger flame and use it to write 3 different fire safety ideas on it. 

I've included a list of fire safety writing prompts for them to choose from.   Click on the link to view/download the fire safety writing prompt craft.

Finally, while doing research, I came across a wonderful fire safety song to the tune of This Old Man. I used it on 3 poster options to help children remember to call 9-1-1 in an emergeny.

I've also included a smaller black and white version that students can color and take home to share with their families.  There are 3 on a page for quick printing.

Both places I found the song posted, did not know the author.  It was simply too cute not to share.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  It's time to find the rest of my October books.  Looking through stories always gives me zillions of ideas. 

What better way to spend a few hours.  I hope you can pop by tomorrow for the latest FREEBIES. Wishing you an ed-venturous day.

 "The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

4 pages.

I made 3 fire safety poster options, using a fire safety song (author unknown) to help your students remember to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency.

10 pages.

Use this fire safety craft to help reinforce the importance of not playing with fire.  Younger students can make the 2-piece dangler; older students can make the larger 3 dimensional flame and use it to write about 3 different aspects of fire safety (one on each flame).  The packet includes a list of 13 fire safety writing prompts that students can choose from. I truly believe that if you have super-interesting prompts, your students will be excited about writing and WANT to get right down to business!  This packet will be FREE for an entire year (!) woo hoo. After which time, it will be revamped and put in Diane's Dollar Deals, in my TpT shop.  Click on the link to zip on over.

4 pages.

Pretending to be firefighters during Fire Safety Week, is a fun way for students to practice giving fire safety advice.  Help them along with their imaginary fun, by making a fire helmet with this quick and easy pattern.  Older students can write fire safety tips on the front, back or rim.  Make an extra set of yellow badges for your kiddos to wear.

8 pages.

Help teach, review & reinforce fire safety tips with this quick and easy craftivity.  This packet will be FREE for an entire year (!) Woo hoo.  After which time, it will be up-dated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals, in my TpT shop.  Click on the link to zip on over.

19 pages.

Help reinforce number sequencing from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1 and skip counting by 10's to 100, with these number puzzles.  These puzzles will be FREE for an entire year (!) After which time they will be up-dated and put in my whopping 53-page Fire Safety Number Puzzles packet.

Click on the link to zip on over.  In addition to making 52 puzzles, I've added skip counting by 2s.